Sometimes I do like to be overly dramatic and sarcastic in my blog titles. I really do.

So Nick Clegg was collared by Mrs Duffy today whilst visiting a factory in Rochdale. She asked the Deputy PM if he thought the coalition were doing a good job and he replied that it was hard but he believed they were making the right decisions. She says that he’s just saying the same thing he’s always saying on TV and on the radio. Which to me is good – shows he’s consistent and not saying one thing to one set of people and another to another.

I am still in shock that a lifelong Labour supporter would think the government are doing a terrible job. This without a doubt is headline news along the lines of Turkey’s don’t vote for Christmas and that I am too tight to buy a proper phone (Nokia 8310 ftw). What is next for Mrs Duffy? Maybe she should share a #bbcqt platform with some real politicians or maybe that isn’t enough for her? Maybe she should take #PMQs one day because the government are doing such a terrible job.

Look I know as a Journalist that the story is legit and the BBC (and others) are right in running with it. It just depresses me that nobodies can get their 15 minutes of fame and as an industry they are kept on the backburner and wheeled out if the opportunity arises. Had I said the same to Nick Clegg then it would not have been reported. The difference between Mrs Duffy and myself apart from the obvious is that I was never called a bigot by the Prime Minister. If that type of thing gets me a public profile then David Cameron can call me an arsehole who has a Troy McClure style fish-fetish if he likes.

I hope you enjoyed this blog post. Please leave any comments or contact me directly via the E-Mail Me link on the Right Hand Nav. You can stay in touch with the blog following me on Twitter or by liking the blog on Facebook. Please share this content via the Social Media links below if you think anyone else would enjoy reading.

2 Comments

Nick

Gillian Duffy represents the unthinking masses that are driving out politicians to drive this country into the ground. First she moans because of the debt, then she gets a government that tries to tackle the debt and she moans about the cuts. One cannot have it both ways.

I wonder if you’re somewhat missing the point of this story.
Of course Brown calling her a bigot garnered the headlines in the last election campaign but the real import of the story politically is that it exemplified the disconnection between Westminster politics and the electorate, and specifically between the Labour party and traditional working class supporters, especially over issues like immigration.

Likewise Duffy’s comments should worry the coalition more than you seem to envisage. It doesn’t matter if she’s a Labour party supporter, she’s voicing a view on the coalition of “it’s all going wrong”. If this narrative takes hold and it might do if exemplified by student fees, NHS reforms, forests, BSF, wage squeeze, downgraded growth forecasts etc, then it might be an image the coalition struggles to shake off.

Finally whilst Duffy might only be wheeled out because of the Brown gaffe there is precious little coverage of what real people think and politicians should open themselves more to this. The Westminster bubble of politicians and journalists is not representative, indeed metropolitan London isn’t. Just as Duffy voiced real concerns about issues ignored by politicians last May, she may also now be voicing views of the coalition. It was difficult for Brown to hear then and the coalition to hear now but if they don’t listen they could be in trouble. You may wish “nobodies” like her didn’t get so much airtime but I for one am glad that, just occasionally, ordinary people get a chance to push politicians out of their soundbite-driven comfort zones; and if politicians realised the value of these exchanges, they would be glad too.